Short Poems to Introduce You to Classic Poetry

Here are short poems to inspire and provide comfort in tough times.

“A Cow in a Landscape," (cropped) by Constant Troyon. Gerard Manley Hopkins sees the beauty of God's creations in their variety and detail. Public Domain

Have you ever been thrilled by the power and majesty of nature? Have you ever had your mind opened to new vistas by encountering a great work of art? Have you ever lost a friend or a loved one? If you’ve had any of these occurrences in your life, then the poems in this article, which deal with such experiences, will speak to you, inspire you, and maybe even comfort you.

I selected these poems for their brevity, perennial popularity, and accessibility, in order to form a kind of introduction to classic English poetry for those who may not have had much exposure to it in the past. I recommend reading the poems slowly, maybe even out loud (poetry is meant to be heard), savoring each syllable, letting the beauty seep into you like sunshine. Then read the short commentary for a deeper understanding and appreciation.

‘Pied Beauty’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things – For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings; Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough; And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim. All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise him.

Gerard Manley Hopkins, a 19th century English priest, possessed the gift of true sight. That is, he was able to truly see things as they are, in all their glory, strangeness, rarity, and beauty. He found ecstasies of delight in the smallest details of the countryside and the city, human life and the natural world, and in things that many of us dismiss or do not notice.